Danny was perplexed to say the least, they seemed shocked to see a statue out in the woods after all their tales of monsters and adventures. It seemed rather unextraordinary, made of a plain grey stone with smooth sides, but had a faint aura of danger about it.

"Who the heck is Bill?" asked Danny, looking over to the Pines trio.

Stan looks over his shoulder before speaking. "We're not really supposed to talk about it, some stuff about acting like this town isn't weird, but Bill is an evil dream demon, who caused the Weirdmagedon last year, he nearly took over permanently, but we stopped him. He's bad news, and that's what's left of him." He finished his speech by gesturing to the triangle husk.

"We should get the heck away from here," said Stan, assuring the children on their way, and stealing a glance back at Bill's remnants. "It gives me the creeps."

Mabel and Dipper seemed completely okay with leaving the statue behind them, but Danny was a little harder to shift, the statue had an eerie feeling about it, but was oddly intriguing. Jazz followed without needing to be pulled away, quickly becoming bored with the petrified triangle.

After a while of trecking through the forest, with a lunch break of squished sandwiches, courtesy of Stan. The sun began to set, casting a an ashy orange hue across the trees and sod. Instead of the usual day time critters, which included the occasional gnome, there were now bats with cape-like skin flaps and the discordant symphony of crickets and owls, along with the rough scamper of diurnal beasts running for shelter.

"I hate to be a killjoy, but we should probably start going home now. Although from what I've heard, your parents are used to late nights, Danny, you little scamp," hollered Stan. Danny took some time to understand what had just been suggested about him, but when it hit him, his ears practically glowed red.

"But Grunkle Stan..." whined Mabel.

"C'mon, just a bit longer," Dipper joined in, tugging on Stan's arm to guide him further into the forest.

"Um, guys?"

"Fine. When's your curfew kid?" Stan complied.

"Guys" Jazz was getting a bit agitated at being ignored.

"Ten. Does that mean we get to stay out until then?" said Danny.

"GUYS!" shouted Jazz, grabbing everyone's attention. "Is it just me, or is it too quiet?"

A deathly silence hung over the forest, coverig it like a thick blanket. A warm blue glow emanated from the distance, getting closer, engulfing the trees in dancing flames that licked the bark sucking the life from it.

"That, is the Basan," announced Dipper, torn between pure fear and uncontained joy.

Danny dumped his bag on the ground with a metallic thud, and withdrew several guns and a thermos, shoving the guns into the others' hands. His eyes remained fixed in the inferno the entire time, unblinking. "Use these when it comes into range."

Mabel twiddled with the gun, sending a shot into a nearby tree and barely missing Danny's head, as he had ducked to avoid it. "Cool!" she cried exuberantly, and began shooting seemingly at random into the blaze. The fires died down slightly when they came into contact with the ectoplasmic blasts. Danny activated the thermos and a small gun, as a cry pierced through the silence, like the unholy fusion of a rooster and a banshee. The owner of said cry was not far behind, parading through the flames. It must have been at least a metre tall, with scales in the place of feathers, not so much a rooster as a bird-like dragon. No sooner had it poked its beaked head out of the flames than a flury of blasts hit it, and all its surroundings. Scorches brandished the trunks and the leaves turned to ash, crumpling, but the Basan seemed not to take much damage, just sustaining a few burns.

"Fall back!" yelled Danny heaving his bag onto his shoulder and backing away from the fire breathing monster. The shots died down and the group turned tail and ran. This seemed only to enrage the basan, who took this as a sign of disrespect, and leaped forward, charging at Jazz, who was at the back of the group.

A sharp punch hit it square in the eye, and sent it recoiling back, as it had tried to maul the redhead. The basan glared daggers at Danny, who pointed his gun right at its head and shot from a point blank range.The basan sent off a dying ember as it collapsed, burning a small hole in Danny's trousers, akin in appearance to pushing a cigarette butt into the fabric.

"Is it dead?" asked Dipper after a moment of silence.

Danny shook his head. "I think it's just unconscious. It doesn't seem too hurt." He took the cap off the thermos and pointed it at the comatose bird with a scorch mark across its face, activating it. The basan was pulled in like a spider in a plughole, and Danny capped the thermos, trapping it in the pipe.

"Why did you want to look for that thing?" exclaimed Stan. "We could have died!"

Dipper stammered for a response, but none came. An awkward silence stretched the seconds out between them. "Um, we didn't die, that counts for something, right?"

Stan sighed and cricked his back, before nodding. "If I were a responsible parent I'd go on about how it being dangerous and stuff, but I'm your grunkle, so I'll give you credit for at least choosing something ghostly."

"It was still highly irresponsible, you didn't know for certain that ghost weapons would work against it," Jazz berated. "And you," she shot Stan a venomous glare, "should be acting more responsible - having a parental figure who acts as a good role model is important for psychological and emotional development in children."

The group all began heading back through the forest, with Danny apologising about Jazz being 'a shrink in training', and quickly dodging the tickling hands that soon came his way. He put on a little burst of speed, using Stan as a shield between himself and his vengeful sister, with Stan scoffing "kids".

The scenery on the way back was almost unrecognisable, with occasional glowing mushrooms and an ominous aura emanating from the towering trees - few even seemed to move to grab at their clothing, eyeing them up with dark knots and slits. Jazz, unlike Danny, hadn't adjusted to the level of weirdness in Gravity Falls, and hopped to the side to dodge a reaching branch, hitting Dipper in the process. Small setbacks and collisions aside, the journey was largely uneventful - it seemed as though the forest creatures could sense the trapped ghostly presence that had been thrown into Danny's bag, resulting in a deathly silence.

Arriving back at the shack, the group was approached by a slightly ticked off and concerned Maddie Fenton. Both Danny and Jazz shrunk back, expecting a lashing of words. Maddie gave Stan a glare: "What time do you think this is? Why didn't you tell me that you'd be in the woods until ten? You all have phones don't you?" 

A chorus of "sorry Mom" and "sorry Mrs Fenton" sounded in response. Maddie sighed. "You lot might as well come and have dinner. But don't think this means you're off the hook." 

Stan gulped nervously and shuffled past Maddie towards the Shack's front door. "Come on then kids, let's shove some bread or pasta or something in your faces."

Dinner was hasty, and consisted of roughly cut bread with jam slathered on top. Danny was the first to finish, after practically inhaling his food, and hauled his bag over his shoulder and brought his plate over to the empty sink. "Oh yeah, what did you do with the Basan? Is it still in your bag?" asked Dipper, Danny internally groaned. 

He shielded the bag with his side and replied cautiously: "Yes, it's in the Fenton thermos."

Dipper's eyes lit up. "I'd like to see it, take some notes, y'know."

"You want me to release a fire breathing, aggressive creature? In a house that's mostly made of wood?" Danny deadpanned, having to hide a triumphant smirk when Dipper's face fell.  

"Danny's right, it's best if we keep it in the thermos until it's safe to release it, and even then it won't be into captivity, it'll be far away from the shack and the town," said Jazz, suppressing a shudder at the thought of what might happen if the Basan were set loose in the town. 

Dipper scowled. "Fine, keep it in the thermos. I'll ask Ford about making a containment device for the Basan tomorrow."

That was all the encouragement Danny needed to speed out of the kitchen and up to his room, where he dumped the bag at the foot of his bed. He wanted nothing more than to collapse into his bed as all of his exhaustion from the day caught up with him, but the task he had to do that night was far more pressing, there was no way he was going to let Dipper release the Basan -  the kid must have a death wish, not that Danny was one to talk. Grabbing the bag again, Danny went to the bathroom and got ready for bed in record time. 

Still keeping the bag close, Danny sat on his bed, messaging Sam and Tucker on his phone, informing them of the day's events, with Sam adamantly stating that he should release the Basan back into the woods. Time flew by and soon Jazz entered the room to collect her pyjamas and toothbrush.  "Hey," said Danny, not bothering to look up from his phone. 

"Danny, you didn't have to be so rude to Dipper earlier. You really annoyed him," Jazz chastised, frowning at Danny, who was now saying goodnight to his friends. 

"Yeah, well, I don't want him experimenting on the Basan, and neither does Sam," Danny glared at Jazz, but couldn't keep it up, knowing she was just being bossy. "That's why I'm going to release it in the woods."

"Okay, little brother. Just be careful, you don't want anyone seeing you again," said Jazz, whispering  the last bit. 

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it Jazz."

Once everyone was in bed, Danny brought forth a galaxy of light from his waist, shifting into his ghost form (he could hear his dad's snoring, so figured the coast was clear). Now floating a few inches off the ground, he collected the thermos with the Basan and drifted towards the wall. "Night Jazz," he said as he phased through the wall. Flying invisibly through the forest, he followed the same route as earlier that day, using the trampled wildlife as a path, passing the statue on his way. He stopped when he saw the destruction that the Basan had left in their last encounter. The trees were shrivelled and lifeless, singed and blackened, the grass no more than ashes. 

"I'd better not regret this later," said Danny, turning his head away from the thermos and hitting the release button. True to expectations, to say the Basan was annoyed would be an understatement, it was spewing fire from the moment it formed from its misty state, the snake-like slits of its glowing red eyes glaring holes through everything around it. It gave off its horrible shriek, which almost rivalled Danny's ghostly wail in its sheer intensity. Danny held up his hands in surrender when its glare turned to him. "Hey, I don't like the thermos either buddy, just do me a favour and don't burn the entire forest down." Turning tail and speeding away from the furious cockerel, Danny could still hear its screeching for at least a mile. He chuckled to himself: "Man, he and Tucker should do a duet." Several animals jumped as Danny whooshed past them, the wind ruffling their fur and feathers. A couple of winged eyeballs crashed into a tree, much to Danny's amusement and surprise.

Danny slowed down to a gentle cruise when he heard the sound of muttering up ahead, double checking that he was invisible, he drifted towards the voice. A yellow light soaked the shrubberies and glinted off the triangle statue at the feet of the speaker. "So I can't get out of this body on my own, that's a pain. I suppose it only makes sense that I can't make a deal with myself." The voice was shrill and grating, something about it was off, like the voices of the ghosts that inhabit Amity Park, but somehow different. It sent a chill down Danny's spine, making him shudder to his core. The voice stopped speaking abruptly, yellow cat-like eyes locking onto Danny. Stan stood there in his boxers, with glowing eyes, an inhuman smile stretching across his face as he looked at the invisible teen. "You might as well stop trying to hide, Danny Phantom, I know where you are." Danny's mind was sent reeling, first jumping to the idea that Stan was overshadowed, before remembering that his ghost sense hadn't gone off, and spiralling backwards into confusion.  He backed away, hairs standing on end, dropping his invisibility in shock. "Now what might the famous, or should I say infamous, Danny Phantom be doing in Gravity Falls?" Danny struggled for words. This was wrong, this wasn't Stan. "Don't bother, I already know. Nice holiday, huh?" 'Stan' took in Danny's immediate fear with satisfaction, as Danny backed up against a tree.

"Who are you?" he blurted out at last. 

'Stan' cackled manically, not stopping until he finally ran out of air in his lungs and began spluttering. "Stupid human body," he muttered, before gesturing to the triangle statue to his right, a statue with the same mad, vertical slit pupil eyes. "Oh, I'm sure the Pines will tell you all about me with a little pestering. You already know my name don't you?"

One word, a name, clicked in Danny's mind. "Bill."

Bill's large eyes curved upwards as his smile reached his ears. He stepped forward, looking Danny dead in the eye and spoke, menace dripping from every word. "I'd warn you not to tell anyone what you've seen here, but you have a secret identity to keep, so I suppose you aren't a concern." 

Danny dropped down to the ground, lightly touching down on the dirt, absolutely flawed. Bill began a slow trudge back to the shack, and called out over his shoulder, grinning evilly. "I'd say it's your bedtime, wouldn't you?" Before walking calmly away.  

Danny stared blankly at the statue. "What's so special about this statue?" he asked, kicking it lightly, knocking it over. Cautiously, he picked it up. Inspecting it, he could sense a sort of residue, which filled him with an unearthly feeling, but it was empty, like it was hollow, yet heavy. He brought it up above his head, and brought it crashing down, smashing it into a nearby tree. A chunk of bark went flying off, ricocheting off the surroundings, but the statue was largely unharmed, with just a chip taken out of the hat. 

Locating a nearby rock, Danny repeated the action, crushing the rock below with the force. The hat went flying off this time, landing amongst the rubble of the rock. He tried this several more times, desecrating the statue against every rock or boulder in the area, before looking at the shattered pieces, satisfied with his work. Panting, he lifted up into the air and powered up an ectoblast, shooting it into the pile of shards, charring and maiming them beyond recognition. Concluding this as a job well done, he took off, leaving the scorched underbrush behind him. Back at the shack Stan was sleeping, Danny would have sworn that he'd have been there for hours, great snorting snores coming from his drooling mouth, if it weren't for the dirt on his bare feet.  Concluding that there was nothing he could do as of then, Danny glided into his bedroom, plopping down on his bed with a flash of light. Pulling the thin covers over himself, he looked over to see Jazz cracking open her eyes. "How'd it go?" she asked groggily.

"You might want to wake up now, you'll never believe what happened just now," said Danny, flicking on the lights. 

Jazz propped herself up, observing her brother's concerned expression, and listened to his every word as he explained. 

"So, you're telling me that Stan is being possessed by this Bill guy, and he knew about your secret identity?" she summarised for herself. "I guess they'll need a ghostly hero now, huh?" Ignoring Danny's scowl, she continued. "Don't worry, I'll cover for you if you need it. But right now you should sleep. Don't think Mom and Dad won't notice when you're like the walking dead." 

Danny snorted and fell back into his bed.